When Jesus returns to His hometown of Nazareth and begins teaching and expounding on the Scriptures His neighbors become offended. Mark 6:1-4 lays out the story and tells us why. Seems these people who had lived right alongside Jesus for years just couldn’t get over the fact that He was a carpenter, a respectable trade but hardly one that would qualify Him to speak on such lofty matters as holy writ. And didn’t His brothers and sisters live in town too? And weren’t they just ordinary folks like the rest of them?  This mindset hindered them from receiving anything from Jesus to which Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”

The same thing can be said of us. Though we may not be prophets it is often hard for our unsaved family and friends to accept our words when we try to witness to them. They know us and have put us in a box: sister, brother, mother, father, cousin, sidekick, etc. and it’s hard for them to see us any other way, and certainly not as a minister of the gospel. When that happens, the best witness will be how we live our lives rather than what we say.

If we live what we believe, in time those closest to us will see the change and will want to know what happened. How is it that we can be so calm during a problem when once we were the first to panic? Or how is it that we can answer a curt word with a sweet reply? Or not lose our temper or be so patient? In a world where hype in advertisement is everywhere, where exaggerated claims are made every day, it will be noteworthy to those around us to see something genuine as we, empowered by the Holy Spirit, quietly walk out our faith in meekness, love and patience, all the while praying for, rather than preaching to, our family and friends.

Sometimes we need to share God’s Word with others and sometimes we just need to live it.

Until next time,

Sylvia

In following Jesus we next find Him resting at Jacob’s well in Samaria. I commented on this story in a post over two years ago, but since it’s one of my favorite “Jesus Encounters” I can’t resist reposting it now.

So while Jesus is resting a woman comes to draw water. Immediately He begins a conversation by asking her for a drink; rather shocking with you consider that she was not only a Samaritan, a member of a mongrel race considered unclean by Jews, but also a woman, a second class citizen in a male dominated society.  Jewish men didn’t strike up conversations with strange women.

She acknowledges this prejudice by asking why He’s even talking to her.  His response is amazing on so many levels.  In essence He says, if you knew who you were talking to, you’d “ask of him and he would have given you living water.”  He goes on to explain this living water was “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”  He was declaring that He was the source of everlasting life, and here’s the kicker, He was declaring it to a fallen Samaritan women.

A few verses down we realize just how fallen.  She’s had five husbands and the man she’s currently living with wasn’t even her husband. That’s probably why she came to the well around the 6^th hour or noon, in the heat of the day, when no one else would be there, because she was probably even an outcast among her own people. But Jesus knew all this, and revealed His knowledge to her.  And she was amazed.  And so am I because even with this prior knowledge He doesn’t say, “boy, you really blew it.  You’ve really made a mess of your life.” Rather He said, “if you’d asked, I’d have given.”

And that’s just what he says to us.  No matter how much we’ve messed up our life, no matter how low on society’s totem poll we are, no matter how insignificant we feel, no matter how “unclean” our lives have become, God loves us, and says, “if you ask I will give you eternal life.” Wow! 

Sometimes I don’t understand why God bothers with us.  We are so flawed, so weak, so much like the “dog who returns to his own vomit” yet He’s there, saying to each of us, “ask me, and I’ll give you because I love you, no matter who you are or what you’ve done.”

The end of the story is also wonderful.  Jesus uses this woman, this fallen unclean Samaritan, to go and tell her community about Him and lead others to Him, thus showing there is a place for even the lowliest in God’s kingdom and in His plan. 

Oh what a God we serve! What a loving, tender, good God! And it’s His very goodness that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4b).

Until next week,

Sylvia

“He drives out demons through the prince of demons,” the Pharisees said regarding Jesus in Matthew 9:34 after Jesus healed a dumb man and the man spoke. It’s hard to imagine saying such a thing after seeing the wonder of Jesus’ miracles. But scoffers in Jesus’ day came in all forms, but none more odious than the “church” people, the so-called “religious” crowd. The ones who should know better.

And nothing has changed. Today, people still scoff at the miracles and ministry of Jesus, and that includes “church” people. How many times have you heard a “believer” say, miracles aren’t for today? That was only for the times of the apostles in order to build up the church. Really? Where in scripture does it say that? My Bible says Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

So what’s the problem? Why do people scoff? Especially church people? Why must the body of Christ disagree so? And find so much to criticize? It’s because of the enemy within. The enemy that is within all of us. The enemy of Self. Just like in Jesus’ day, today many in the church allow Self to reign in their lives instead of Jesus.

When you boil everything away, there are only three kingdoms: the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Satan, and the Kingdom of Self. And we all serve one of them. Note they are listed in order of power, Self being on the bottom. Satan will never be able to defeat the Kingdom of God. In fact the only kingdom he can conquer is the Kingdom of Self that’s why it pleases him when we walk in self will. He knows it’s only a matter of time before he will conquer us and we will be serving him.

Self wants to be as God. It wants to call the shots and be elevated. It is the true enemy within. The enemy that will close itself to the Word of God thinking it knows best. The enemy that will divide a church because of pride. The enemy that will seek to exalt itself even at the expense of others. The enemy that can look at the proof of Jesus’ miracles and say it is the act of Satan or look at the very Word of God and then twist it to suit its own purpose or motive.

The enemy within is one we must all guard against. Even after coming into the saving knowledge of Jesus we are still flesh and blood and wrestle against the power of darkness as well as possess a mind that is in desperate need of being transformed by the Word of God. It is a struggle that can only be won through the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us.

Oh, that we may all be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ and love one another! Only then will we experience, in the measure that God desires for us, that other kingdom, the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Until next time,

Sylvia

Think God doesn’t care about your situation? Nothing can be further from the truth.  All through the New Testament we see the compassion of Jesus. And since Jesus said “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30) we know that God the Father is compassionate, too.

Take the story in Luke 7:11-17. Just as Jesus is heading for the gate of a town a funeral processing is coming out. The deceased is a young man, the only son of a widow. And when Jesus sees the widow, he has compassion on her. That word “compassion” in the Greek means to have sympathy to such an extent that the bowels yearn—the very deepest part of a person. This compassion wasn’t a passive thing but made Jesus stop and move in the widow’s direction. “Don’t weep,” He tells her, then raises her son from the dead showing us there is no problem too big for Him to handle.

Luke 7: 18-22 goes on to tell us about John the Baptist sending two of his disciples to Jesus to ask Him if He was the ONE. The one to come, the Messiah. And Jesus answers by pointing to His deeds, how he had cast out demons, healed the blind, lame, the lepers and the deaf and raised the dead, all signs of the Messiah which most of the Pharisees chose to ignore. Jesus was so clearly the ONE that it actually required those learned in the Scriptures to be willful ignorant of His identity. I suppose because acknowledging Him would shake them out of their comfort zone.

But was Jesus looking to have people acknowledge Him for glory? For profit? No. He was looking for people to come to Him so He could heal, deliver, set free. So He could exercise His incomparable compassion and dispense His unconditional love. And He’s still looking today and saying with a heart of compassion, “Come to me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

There is nothing too small or large that we can’t take to our compassionate Jesus.

Until next time,

Sylvia

Jesus was always making radical pronouncements. Here in John 3:13-15 He proclaims He has come from heaven, and not only that, but proclaims His future death. The Amplified says it best, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert on a pole, so must the Son of Man be lifted up (on the cross).”  And then comes verse 16, the verse we all love, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”

What a pronouncement! Jesus knew His destiny, His purpose. And boldly states it here. His crucifixion was no accident. It was planned from the foundation of the world. And it was to be no small accomplishment, either. It would accomplish nothing less than the salvation of perishing mankind!

Though Jesus couldn’t be any clearer in His statements in John, His disciples just didn’t get it. Not really. Not then anyway. That came much later. In the same way, so many people still don’t get it. They don’t understand who Jesus is and why He came. They say He’s a good man, a good teacher, nothing more. But then how do they explain Jesus’ statement in John 3:17 “For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might find salvation through Him”? No “good” man would ever declare such a thing because no man, no teacher, no matter how good can save the world. Only God Himself coming down in the flesh could accomplish that.

So why doesn’t the world love Jesus? After He gave so much? After He did so much for us? The Bible gives us that answer too. It tells us that Satan has blinded mankind. “In whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)

So next time you witness to someone you love, bath it in prayer first, and be patient and kind because, just like we were once blinded, they are still blinded by Satan, and he  will fight tooth and nail to keep them from coming into the Truth. But the one thing Satan keeps underestimating is that the kind of love God offers is more than able to pierce the darkness Satan tries to create.

Until next time,

Sylvia

In both Mark 2:23-28 and Luke 6:1-5 we see Jesus’ disciples picking grain from a field because they’re hungry. Only problem, it was the Sabbath, and no labor was to be done on that day. And weren’t the Pharisees quick to point that out! “What you are doing is not permitted or lawful on the Sabbath,” they said. Jesus squelched the controversy by reminding them how David and his men ate the sacred bread in the Temple when they were hungry. Then Jesus ended by saying the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath and that He, Jesus, the Son of Man, was “Lord even of the Sabbath.”

I love the Sabbath. It’s a day made for us by God. A day set aside. A day for fellowshipping with our Creator as well as other believers. It’s also a day of rest, for recharging our batteries, and a time for enjoying family and loved ones. But as is the case so often in the Bible, it speaks of deeper things, too.

The Sabbath is symbolic for entering God’s rest and ceasing from our efforts at “good works.” It is the picture of the atonement and how all was accomplished by God with the only thing needing to be done is acceptance of that finished work. Indeed, Jesus is the very Lord of the Sabbath. He is our Sabbath rest. And when we accept Him, we enter into that rest, which is a place of peace and contentment and safety. It is a place where we are enfolded in the very arms of God; a place where nothing more needs to be done by us. It has all been taken care of. 

But the Sabbath means something else, too. Many Bible scholars believe that the very age (aion) we live in is entering its seven thousandth year. They base this on the scripture in 2 Peter 3:8 that states, “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” They also base it on the creation account where everything God did took six days, and on the seventh day He rested. Please note that no where did I say I believe the earth is six thousand years old. Rather, I subscribe to the gap theory where there is a huge span of time, probably millions of years, between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post God doesn’t create anything void and His instructions to Adam and Eve were to “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” God gave these exact same instructions to Noah in Genesis 9:1 after He destroyed the world with a flood. He told Noah to, “Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth.” So it leaves one to assume the world, prior to Adam, was destroyed, perhaps during the cosmic battle when Satan caused one-third of the angels to rebel against God.

So if this age, this aion, this time from Adam to now is currently at the beginning of seven thousand years, it means we are nearing the final Sabbath, the one thousand year reign of Jesus—the time of rest not only for the earth, but for all past and present who are God’s.  But it also means that the rapture and the tribulation are not far off and we need to be ready.

Now is the time to enter God’s rest. Now is the time to make Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath. If we do, we will be ready for that final Sabbath that is coming.

Until next time,

Sylvia

“Can a man enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Nicodemus asked after Jesus told him he must be “born again” in order to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:1-8). The answer, of course, is “no” a man cannot be born twice, physically. So what was Jesus talking about?

He was talking about a spiritual rebirth. In Genesis 2:17 God tells Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden except from the tree of “knowledge of good and evil . . . for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” We all know the rest of the story. Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden tree and yes, they eventually died, but not on that day. Or did they? Actually, yes they did, but their death was spiritual. Their once pure, unbroken fellowship with God was shattered and they were driven from His sight. No longer could they walk and talk with Him in the cool of the evening as they once had. Theirs was now to be a life of thorns and thistles, sweat and toil. But worst of all, a life incapable of fellowship with God.

As I said in a previous post, the first drop of blood was shed by God Himself when he killed an innocent animal to make skins to cover Adam and Eve. It was far more than a covering of clothing. It was a sin covering. And all through the Old Testament animals were slaughtered to provide that sin covering for man. Then came Jesus and provided His own blood as the final and complete and perfect sacrifice. It is His precious blood alone that makes atonement for our sins and a way back to fellowship with the Father. And it is only by our acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice that our once spiritual connection with God is restored. Spiritually, we are “reborn” and once again able to walk and talk with God. No church, no denomination, can give us this. It is only the blood of Jesus. Period. And the rule still applies. If we want to enter the kingdom of God we must be born again.

It’s a pity that the phrase “born again” has evoked such scorn and become the butt of so many jokes, because in truth it is the most enviable position. The “born again” believer is at once at peace with God, able to call Him Abba, Daddy, able to confide in Him as a friend, has the assurance that God is for him and not against him. Being “born again” removes us from the thorns and thistles of this world and seats us with Jesus in the heavenlies as joint heir with Him.

My fervent pray is that everyone be “born again.”  I know of no better or loving prayer.

Until next week,

Sylvia

Okay, here’s a side of Jesus the church rarely talks about. In John 2:13-17 Passover is approaching and Jesus comes to the Temple in Jerusalem. And what does He find? He finds the Temple enclosure full of merchants selling sheep, oxen and doves for sacrifices, as well as money changers, those who, for a fee, convert foreign currency into shekels for visiting Jews.

Jesus’ reaction is swift and fierce. He makes a whip and drives “them all out of the temple enclosure;” the animals, the merchants, the money changers. Then to add insult to injury, He overturns their tables, scattering their precious money all over the floor while stating “Make not My Father’s house a house of merchandise.” The apostles understand that this is in fulfillment of the Scriptures and illustrates Jesus’ consuming zeal for His Father’s house. The Amplified also adds, “I (meaning Jesus) will be consumed with jealousy for the honor of Your house.”

What happened here? Why was Jesus so upset? Because man had mixed the profane with the sacred. Because they had tainted the holiness of the Temple with unholy things. They had made God’s Holy house a marketplace, a shopping mall.

I often write about God’s love for I believe that describes God best. But we must understand that God can also get angry. And I think He gets angriest when He sees His holy church defiled. Many pastors will have much to answer for at the judgment! For many have allowed the world to pollute their churches with worldly ideas and ways. Many have let their love of money and riches and the desire for fame and a bigger congregation crowd out the pure Word of God until it is nothing more than a shopping mall selling lattés and “feel-good” messages that offend no one.

But this must be how God feels about us, individually, at times, too. After all, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit and are to live holy lives through His power. And when we pollute ourselves, sometimes God must upend our tables, too. He must turn our world upside down out of “jealousy for the honor” of His house. And so again, not surprisingly, love enters into the equation. It’s His great love for us that makes Him jealous and not able to stand idly by while we allow pollutants to enter His holy territory. He must address our offenses—our chasing after other gods of money, fame, pleasure, ease, etc. So before He has to upend our tables let us partner with Him and get our house in order.

Until next time,

Sylvia

I really like this one. In Luke 5:1-9 we follow Jesus to the Sea of Galilee where, after preaching to a crowd from Peter’s boat, He tells Peter to go out into deeper water and lower his nets. Peter is quick to reply that he’d been toiling all night and caught nothing. But he stops short of telling Jesus he thinks His suggestion is foolish. Instead, Peter does what Jesus asks. And what do you know? His nets nab so many fish they nearly break and Peter has to call his partners in another boat to come over and help haul in the catch.

How like Peter we are. We toil and toil on our own, often accomplishing little or nothing, when we should have waited for a word from the Lord. Just one word from Him can make all the difference between success and failure. How often I’ve run ahead and tried to work things out on my own, and then when I’ve felt utterly defeated, Jesus comes along and points me in the right direction, changing everything. It reminds me of Psalm 127:1 that says “unless the Lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it.” That can be said of all our endeavors. So why continue trying to do things without God?

The other thing I really like about this passage is how considerate Jesus is. Peter worked all night trying to catch fish and yet was obedient by taking Jesus in his boat just off shore while Jesus spoke to the crowd. If I’d been up all night I think I’d be off somewhere sleeping. But Peter’s sacrifice and obedience did not go unnoticed. For after Jesus finished addressing the crowd, he instructed Peter to lower his nets, knowing full well the outcome. The point is, we can never outdo Jesus. He is aware of our obedience and those times we may be inconvenienced or suffer for His sake. And though we may not always believe this or experience it immediately in our lives, Jesus will reward us with His peace, His joy and yes, sometimes with unbelievable success at our jobs or endeavors.

So when we cast our own nets, let us do it according to God’s direction. The outcome is sure to be greater than we can imagine.

Until next time,

Sylvia

How can we find our value in a bargain basement world? For God’s people, the answer is simple. We can’t. Why? Because the world’s value system and God’s value system are completely different. The world values physical beauty, wealth, success while God values holiness, integrity, honesty, faithfulness and the like. And if we focus on what the world values it often causes us to devalue ourselves. It’s easy to feel we’re not important. Not in the grand scheme of things, anyway. And thus we can feel insignificant.

That’s when we need to redirect our focus from the things of the world to the things of God. When seen in this light, the world offers little. Look at their take on physical beauty. Their standards are so artificial that few can match them. And this has reaped a harvest of suffering. 1% of all American female adolescents have anorexia—that’s 1 out of 100 girls between the ages of 10-25 who are starving themselves; 2 to 3 out of 100 suffer from bulimia; and 20% of all these girls/women will die prematurely from complications related to their disorders. Proverbs 11:22 tells us that “As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. While Proverbs 31:30 says, “Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.”

Even worldly success, accomplishments and riches can be meaningless, and often comes with a great price. 41% of 1^st marriages end in divorce and, according to the Children’s Defense Fund, there are close to 13 million latchkey children in the US; children who are left unsupervised while their parents work. 1 Corinthians 3:19 tells us that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” When you see the above statistics, it really brings that scripture home.

As Christians we need to be careful that we don’t buy into the world’s value system. God’s word tells us in Romans 12:2 “Be not conformed to this world; but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” The world wants to conform us, but God wants to transform us. And 2 Corinthians 4:7 tells us that our treasure is in earthen vessels, and that treasure is God Himself, His Holy Spirit, who resides in us. Pontius Pilot asked the crowd to choose between Jesus and Barabbas, and the crowd chose Barabbas. The world will always choose its own. And since Christians are not of this world, the world will never value us. And if we apply the world’s standards to ourselves, we won’t value ourselves either. So we must look to God for our worth, and let His criteria determine our value.

And God does indeed value us. Why? Certainly not because of our physical beauty or our abilities, or our wealth or success.  But because we are made in the image and likeness of God. Because we have been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus. Because we are the very temple of God. And He loves us so greatly. And that love is unconditional, intense and everlasting. It will not—never never never be revoked. He tells us this over and over again in scripture. And here’s what the Bible calls us: joint heirs with Christ—Roman 8:17; heirs of promise—Hebrews 6:17; heirs of the kingdom—James 2:5; heirs of salvation—Hebrews 1:14; more than conquerors—Romans 8:37; a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people—1 Peter 2:9. Not only that but God knows the number of hairs on our heads. And before we were born, He called us by name.

What else could we possibly want or need?

As the New Year approaches, let’s move forward in the Lord. Let’s do what the Apostle Paul did in Philippians 3:13-14 “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” Let’s begin the New Year by forgetting the mistakes of the past and focus on Jesus. Let’s allow Him to draw us into a deeper love relationship with Him and show us our worth and His great love for us so that we can move into this new season with confidence and soul peace.

Happy New Year. May 2013 be the best, the happiest, the most meaningful year ever!

Until next time,

Sylvia